Conventional single family homes are most often constructed on the location of the building site from individual pieces of lumber by trade workmen. This method of construction allows great flexibility in designing and constructing a house structure. Since each particular section of a house is part-by-part constructed and assembled with the whole of its structure, custom house constructions are easily accomplished. Unlimited possibilities exist using this type of construction for achieving enlarged and open spaces in the interior living areas of the house, such as raised or vaulted ceilings, dormers, bi-level or sunken floor surfaces, split level balconies, etc.
It is the enlarged space living areas of a house having non-standard three-dimensional form which create the character and ambience one recognizes and appreciates and which brings value to the home. These characteristics are an important factor, not only in providing a home which engenders feelings of comfort and attractiveness for the inhabitant, but also provides a house which is much more desirable and capable of sale in a competitive housing market. The discriminating home buyer has come to expect features of elegance and originality in a home created by custom design of the enlarged living space areas. Providing these features of expression and individuality in a house greatly aids in convincing a home buyer to purchase, while achieving better profits for the home builder.
Modern times have found increased economic pressure on the builder to reduce the costs of construction of a house, while maintaining the character and ambience desired by the home buyer. Greatly increased costs of labor and materials, combined with the large amount of time necessary for, and inefficiencies inherent in, constructing a house at a building site, have drastically increased housing prices to a level which many prospective buyers cannot afford. In response, the building industry has attempted many methods of prefabrication, including constructing entire houses or portions of houses at a remote manufacturing facility. The preconstructed units are shipped to the building location and finally assembled in building block fashion. Off-site prefabrication methods have taken advantage of factory assembly line techniques to reduce labor costs of construction. Limiting on-site activities to assembly of preconstructed units, installation of mechanical and electrical systems and finishing work, similarly reduce labor costs normally incurred by reducing scheduling conflicts which extend construction time. These efficiency and cost-saving techniques allow for construction of an increased number of houses per week. Additionally, material damage and loss incurred through storage of materials at a building site are substantially reduced.
The advent of prefabricated construction methods, however, has in the past resulted in a less desirable home product. The artisans of building construction and of factory technology have found it necessary to compromise many of the afore-mentioned desirable features of a house which can be provided through on-site construction. Of the first and foremost causes, is the nearly universal approach used by prefabricated housing manufacturers of providing house structures which are identically shaped, and box-like in configuration. It has been understood that these box-like configurations are necessary in order to take advantage of mass production techniques in the factory, and efficiently shipping these preconstructed units in observance of highway transportation size limitations. Many designs of prefabricated units have substantially integrated the known structures and construction techniques of the mobile home industry, which have been designed in view of unit construction of the mobile home in a factory and in view of size limitations necessary for transportation of a completed mobile home on the highway.
However, mobile home construction is typically performed according to specifications and standards specifically developed in the mobile home industry. Preconstructed units manufactured according to mobile home standards and specifications present problems due to construction differing with the standard on-site constructed house which is typically constructed according to a Uniform Building Code (UBC), when adapted within the house structure. The differing types of construction, and sometimes reduced quality, have been found to be less than desirable in the home marketplace. Differing constructions can also cause complicated certification and approval proceedings, and inspections by a local building inspector at the construction site. Further, the box-like structures, typical of mobile home construction, have resulted in houses having identical or very similar rectangular constructions when assembled. These near identically shaped houses provide very little identity or uniqueness for a home, other than the color in which it is painted, and provides little appeal to a discriminating home purchaser.
Moreover, constructions using mobile home-type prefabricated structures as a central core are prohibited in some localities. Often they require specially configured or raised foundations so that the chasis and wheel structure may be accommodated.
A multitude of similarly shaped houses constructed in a home tract presents an unattractive and unappealing scene. The affect has been the formation of an image of undesirability in the minds of the home buying public. Because of the decreased desirability of these preconstructed homes, they will not bear a price comparable with a similar sized house constructed on-site. Further, they present increased difficulty in eliciting a sale. The reduced price leaves a builder in a position of obtaining lower profits, thereby reducing his incentive to provide lower priced homes in the marketplace.
Exemplary of prior art teachings incorporating prefabricated mobile home-type structures into a modular construction is the construction method described by Pincus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,676. Pincus shows a prefabricated mobile home-type construction comprising outside structural walls and a floor attached to a steel I-beam chassis on which the unit is transported. The structure, including a chassis, is set upon a foundation at the building site after which the axle, wheels and trailer hitch are removed. A house is constructed around the prefabricated unit which is limited in configuration because it must specifically conform to the central modular portion, usually having bedrooms on one side and a living area on the other side of the unit, as is shown. The resultant structure is most often box-shaped in configuration without demension or enlarged, elegant living spaces, therefore, having little visual attractiveness.
Similarly, Coletti, U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,534 teaches a method of building construction in which a central opensided building module having a rectangular configuration is centrally positioned on a foundation, with preconstructed structure assembled on both sides of the building module to complete the house structure. The completed structure is again box-like in configuration with little individual identity.